WHEN BROTHERS FIGHT

“Now, Yisrael loved Yosef more than all his other sons, for he was a child of his old age; he made him an ornately coloured robe. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not say a peaceful word to him. Then Yosef had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him still more.” (Bereishit 37:3-5)

So began one of the most bitter family conflicts in the history of the Jewish people. It was a conflict that would result in attempted fratricide and the devastation of Yaakov’s family. This feud caused Yaakov to suffer in grief and anguish for more than twenty years in the belief that his son had been killed by a wild animal. Although, in the end, Yosef and his brothers were reconciled, there remained a lingering doubt that Yosef might still take his revenge, especially after Yaakov’s death (see Bereishit 50:15). This extreme case of sibling rivalry led to all of Yaakov’s family emigrating to Egypt, a move that would have disastrous consequences in the long term.

The third step of the Pesach Seder involves the dipping of a vegetable, called karpas, into salt water. This is the first of the two dippings referred to in the Four Questions, the second being the dipping of the marror into the charoset. The karpas brings to mind ancient banquets that always began with the serving of entrees that were dipped into some form of sauce or liquid, not unlike modern-day crudités. We hope that this dipping before the main meal will pique the interest of the children present who will then ask questions.  Rabbeinu Manoach (13^th century, France) in his commentary on Rambam’s Mishnah Torah (Hilchot Chametz u’Matza 8:2 ) offers another interpretation: “We have the custom of using karpas as a reminder of the ornately coloured robe (k’tonet passim) that our father Yaakov made for Yosef, as a result of which events transpired that led to our forefathers descending to Egypt.” It is interesting to note that when Rashi explains the meaning of k’tonet passim, he refers to a verse in the Book of Esther (1:6) that describes the fine material hangings in the palace in Persia as “White linen, green cotton (karpas), and sky-blue wool, all bound with cords of fine linen and purple wool on silver rods and marble pillars, with couches of gold and silver on a floor of alabaster, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stone.” According to Rabbeinu Manoach, the dipping of the karpas into salt water reminds us, in a subtle way, of the beautiful coat of Yosef that was dipped into the blood of a goat to deceive Yaakov into believing his son had been killed. We do this at the beginning of the Seder to remind us how we came to be in Egypt – because brothers did not get along with one another. (I heard this idea from Rabbi Paysach Krohn)

Recently, a decades-long dispute came to an end in the city of Bnei Brak in Israel. The conflict centered on the famed Ponovez Yeshiva and the ownership thereof. The Ponovez Yeshiva in Israel was founded in 1944 by the former Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Ponovez, Lithuania, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman. He was a visionary leader, great Torah scholar and outstanding fundraiser. He purchased a bare hill in Bnei Brak and went about his dream of building a Lithuanian-style yeshiva upon it. From a modest beginning with just a handful of students, he grew the yeshiva into a leading institution of Torah learning with thousands of disciples. Rabbi Kahaneman travelled around the world to raise funds for his project. He came to South Africa several times, including Cape Town, where a number of former Ponovez Jews lived. To this day, there is still a small Ponovez Shul in Maynard Street, Gardens, which now serves as the shul of the Cape Town Torah High school. At the shul, there is a photograph of Rabbi Kahaneman surrounded by Jews from Cape Town who came to hear him on one of his fundraising trips. The last time I visited the yeshiva in Israel (in 2018), I noticed a plaque on the wall dedicated in memory of Sarah Bloch of Cape Town in commemoration of the donation she had made to the yeshiva. Rabbi Kahaneman appointed some of the most outstanding Torah scholars to the faculty of the yeshiva, including Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky and Rabbi Dovid Povarsky.  The yeshiva also had great mashgichim (spiritual guides) in the persons of Rabbis Eliyahu Dessler, Yechezkel Levenstein and Chaim Friedlander. Later, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach joined the faculty and became the head of the Lithuanian Charedi community in Israel. When I visited Israel for the first time in December 1991, I visited the Ponovez Yeshiva with my group and briefly saw Rabbi Shach who, at the time, was recovering from an illness. Ponovez became the ‘Harvard’ of the Yeshiva world and had students from many countries, including South Africa.

However, following Rabbi Kahaneman’s death, the unity of the yeshiva began to erode. This came to a head in 2001, in the third generation of the family, when Rabbi Kahaneman’s grandson, Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman, and the latter’s brother-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel Markowitz, fell out over ideological and financial concerns.  Both of them claimed to be the heir to the yeshiva. Students began to form around the two Roshei Yeshiva and two factions were formed. They gave each other derogatory names. Rabbi Kahaneman’s faction are called the sonim (haters) and Rabbi Markovitz’s factions, the mechablim (terrorists). At times, violent fights broke out between the two factions leading to some of the faculty being injured. Students from the two factions could not tolerate being in the presence of one another. For all intents and purposes, there were two yeshivas operating in a single location. Eventually Rabbi Markovitz’s faction occupied a building of the yeshiva that had not been used for many years. This feud has caused great reputational damage to the Ponovez Yeshiva which no longer enjoys the elevated status it once had. The behaviour of the members of the two factions has resulted in great chillul Hashem, desecration of God’s Name. For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the two sides opted to bypass Beth Din arbitration and went, instead, to a retired secular judge, David Cheshin. The judge had actually been raised in a Chassidic family but had later given up an observant lifestyle. 

In November 2025, Cheshin handed down his ruling. He prefaced his ruling by stressing that, “After a process that lasted four years, I must say with great regret that I have reached a firm conclusion: separation between the sides, including in both physical and organizational terms, will be for the benefit of all. Reconciliation, unfortunately, is not possible at this time. The current situation, in which both factions live together on the yeshiva campus — side by side, but in practice against one another — cannot continue. The dispute may, God forbid, bring destruction and ruin upon the yeshiva.” In the ruling, which spans over 160 pages and was sent by email to both sides, Cheshin wrote that the “Mechablim” must vacate the yeshiva by the month of Av 5786, must pay millions of shekels to the yeshiva and will no longer be able to use the name Ponovez. The losing party reluctantly accepted the ruling but there are rumours of an appeal. I hope that this will bring an end to a bitter dispute that has torn the Charedi world apart. We ought to learn from history, especially the story of Yosef and his brothers, but it seems that we don’t.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Liebenberg.

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